The objective of this proposal is the stimulation and development of multidisciplinary studies on aging at the University of Pennsylvania. This will be accomplished through the Special Initiative Award mechanism by providing seed research support for investigators whose primary research goals, until now, have not been identified with gerontologic studies. Four different projects will be carried out. Thus, the program will be truly multi-disciplinary. The projects are concerned with vascular smooth muscle cells and, to some extent, fibroblast-like cells from animals and humans of different ages. One investigator is primarily interested in the biomechanical properties of excised vascular tissues. Another will study molecular changes in the contractile proteins and associated enzymes as well as the proportion of smooth muscle cells in tissues during aging. A third will study the metabolic properties of smooth muscle cells in culture derived from human donors of various ages. A fourth study will examine chromosomal proteins during aging in vitro. Such a muultifacted program will enhance research activities in these areas, will improve communication among diverse groups and will stimulate gerontologic research at the University of Pennsylvania.